These Playing Cards School U.S. Soldiers in Archaeology

Warfare can take a heavy toll on cultural treasures. Army archaeologist Laurie Rush created playing cards to educate US soldiers about the areas they’re deployed to. Gregory Reid

When Laurie Rush, an army archaeologist and anthropologist, heard that the military had built a helipad directly on top of ancient Babylon, she realized she needed to do more to educate US soldiers about historic places. It wasn’t just for art’s sake. Disrespecting venerable sites can set off military and diplomatic crises. “When people destroy the culture, it’s incendiary for the conflict,” Rush says. This isn’t a new problem. George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, in theaters this winter, follows men and women working to protect and recover priceless works of art at the end of World War II. But Rush has a solution that doesn’t require Clooney: playing cards.

Soldiers used decks of cards to identify some of the most wanted officials in the Iraqi regime; Rush’s cards depict art and architecture (like the minaret at the Great Mosque at Samarra), with tips themed by suit (diamonds mean artifacts; spades mean “be careful where you dig”). The cards have been popular enough that soldiers asked for a deck for Afghanistan, and Rush and colleagues created cards, plus pocket guides for architectural awareness and handbooks for commanders. Now a board member on the US Committee of the Blue Shield, a nonprofit that protects cultural property during armed conflict, Rush has built online resources specific to the locations of ongoing military action.

The lessons Rush’s group teaches aren’t obvious. In Afghanistan, shrines on the side of the road can be nondescript but culturally important. Burial sites are marked only with small piles of stones and bits of clothing. Local looters try to sell Americans valuable items, and it might seem totally natural for a soldier to casually buy something. “We’re working very hard to educate our soldiers about taking souvenirs,” Rush says. In the meantime, they can keep their playing cards.